The Wieners Circle
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| The Wieners Circle | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Restaurant information | |
| Food type | Hot dog stand |
| City | Lincoln Park, Chicago |
| State | Illinois |
| Country | United States |
| Other locations | Las Vegas, Nevada [1] |
| Website | wienercircle.net |
The Wieners Circle is a hot dog stand in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, United States.[2] It is famous for four things: its signature Maxwell Street Char-dogs, hamburgers, cheese fries, and the mutual verbal abuse between the employees and the customers during the late-weekend hours.
Food
The establishment is known for its char-grilled food, especially its hot dogs and hamburgers (commonly called char-dogs and char-burgers).[3] A Wiener Circle char dog with "the works" is a grilled Vienna Beef hot dog on a warm poppy seed bun, topped with mustard, onions, relish, dill pickle spears, tomato slices, sport peppers and a dash of celery salt.
History
Sometime in the early 1990s (circa 1992) Larry Gold, one of the proprietors, called a drunk and distracted customer an "a**hole" in order to get his attention. This set off the late-night abuse culture of the restaurant. The atmosphere can range from playful to hostile.[4] The language used by both the staff and customers during these hours is notoriously foul and aggressive, and sometimes racist.[5] As the wait-staff is largely black and the clientele middle-class to wealthy white, the more racist epithets have led to the rare physical altercation. Customers commonly request a "chocolate shake," which is code for asking one of the female employees to shake her breasts.[4][6] Reports have indicated that female employees lift their shirts to shake their naked breasts, in exchange for tips over twenty dollars.[5][7]
On the weekends, the establishment stays open as late as 5:00 am, drawing many drunken customers who have arrived from bars and clubs.[4]
The nightly tips are very high, and people have worked there for ten years or more.[4] The location of the hot dog stand is just north of what used to be the Wrightwood Hotel.[8] In 2008, the restaurant was briefly closed by health inspectors for not having hot running water where employees would wash their hands, and other food safety violations.[9]
In media
One of the more famous employees is Roberta "Poochie" Jackson, who was featured (along with the restaurant) in a 2007 episode of the Showtime television version of the Chicago Public Radio program This American Life,[4] as well as an episode of Extreme Fast Food on the Travel Channel. In Chicago travel guides, The Wieners Circle is often extolled as a source for authentic Chicago-style hot dogs and its uniquely abrasive customer relations.[10] Journalist Catherine Price listed The Wieners Circle in her book 101 Places Not to See Before You Die, calling it "a microcosm of segregation in Chicago",[11] and commenting, "If our metric were 'places that make me sad about humanity,' late night at Wiener's Circle would have been at the top."[2]
The restaurant was featured in an episode of Insomniac with Dave Attell on Comedy Central in 2002.[episode needed]
The restaurant is the setting for a truTV reality game show.[12]
The Wieners Circle was featured in both radio and TV episodes of This American Life.[13]
The restaurant was the setting of a sketch featuring Jack McBrayer and Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog in the June 14, 2012 episode of the late night talk show Conan, which was the last in a week of shows taped in Chicago.[14]
The restaurant was featured in an episode of the Extreme Restaurant specials on the Travel Channel.[15]
The Wieners Circle was also featured Sorted Food's webseries; #LostandHungry. In the webisode Chicago - Pie & Shake!!!!, Ben is recommended to order a classic dog and a 'Chocolate Shake'.
See also
References
- ↑ vegas.eater.com/2014/5/16/6223225/updated-wieners-circle-is-bringing-the-sass-to-vegas
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 This American Life. "Act II, In Wiener Veritas, from Pandora's Box", No. 6, season 1, April 26, 2007.
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- ↑ Abernethy, Samantha (March 16, 2012). "This Exists: A Reality Show About Wiener's Circle". Chicagoist.
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